When we see a species, like the long-tailed macaque, slide down from Threatened to Endangered status in the span of a few years, it's absolutely frightening.
The concept of rapid extinctions should be alarming to every person on the planet.
Macaques are not specialists. They are diversely adaptive. It takes a massive effort to drastically reduce their populations.
In this moment, where we are today, all of us should feel a call to action.
Time isn't on our side.
The harsh reality is that we must do something if we want to preserve or conserve nature and biodiversity.
One issue we all face are the effects of a biologically depleted world. Regardless of ideologies, there is an accelerated level of biodiversity loss, extinctions and degrading of ecosystems around the world.
So, what can we do if we want to save small primates?
I think solutions happen through different tiers of action.
First, EDUCATION about species like the long-tailed macaque is critical. People don't typically care for things they lack knowledge about. Getting folks to understand the ecological benefits of healthy monkey populations comes down to showing people what macaques are, where they live, how they live, and why they contribute to their environmental living space – which, includes urban areas.
Another thing we can all do is to help reduce the proliferation of social media posts that use monkeys as props for views, likes and funding. It is a million dollar industry to dress up a pet monkey in doll clothes and post videos of how “cute” it looks. More sinister media uses include torturing and injuring monkeys in images and videos. The abusive content has a vast following and makes up a significant portion of monkeys-as-props revenue. Social media exists in its form today as a shareholder-producer-consumer system. Whatever we watch, or “Like,” or click on links for is a product, and we become the consumers. If we care about wildlife it's important to become actively mindful of what media you're consuming – whether you like the subject matter or not. Content creators get paid by viewership hours, subscribers and popularity (Likes and shares). If we reduce how lucrative it is to use a live animal as a prop for content, the amount of trafficking, abuse and neglect will also be reduced.
The next tier of action is to inform civic leaders about your concerns. You do this most easily through your candidate choices, attending local government meetings, communicating your concerns with leaders (intelligently, respectfully and through authorized means), and through support of NGOs and other organizations whose focus is wildlife conservation.
These ideas may seem like small things. However, the strength in these small actions is in numbers. Together, we can make a profoundly positive impact on conserving endangered species. The long-tailed macaques' fate rest in our hands. Our moment of action is now.
- Rick
Comments